It’s time for gift shopping sprees and Christmas trees.
It’s the perfect time to make your children see,
the magic in the air is there, everywhere,
it’s time for gifts, to show you care!
Get a jump on your holiday season shopping with fantastic deals, which are available virtually everywhere – online and offline.
We are grateful you were with iCard throughout 2019 and we decided to support your gift-buying endeavors. We partnered with Santa and prepared not one, but two Christmas surprises. You can fund your iCard account with a stored card for free – from the 18th of December, 2019 until the 6th of January, 2020. In addition, you can send a virtual or physical GiftCard to participate in a holiday drawing for an amazing prize: a GoPro Hero7 Black camera.
Back to gifts shopping. It’s important, both for your money and for the environment, that you take the time to come up with a thoughtful gift that won’t end up as rubbish. This is why we prepared 6 ideas to help you be different and surprise your top people with a considerate, digital gift.
1. An online course goes a long way
Who are you thinking of right now? Even if you don’t recall a recent conversation about improving skills, the following course providers offer tons of excellent learning content.
The good thing about this gift is that you don’t even need to be so creative. You only need to know little about the person’s aspirations. Next, you can find all sorts of educational materials and certificate courses in business, design, programming, photo & film, entrepreneurship, writing and more. We are certain there will be a match. To really surprise, you may need to register an account, purchase the course and pass on the credentials as a gift.
Have a look at the latest courses of some of the top online providers:
Udemy.com offers new skills from €9.99.
Skillshare.com has thousands of classes to fuel your creativity and career.
Coursera.org helps people build skills with courses, certificates, and degrees online.
Everyone knows that knowledge is gold. This gift can help you stay on the safe side.
Serious enough? Let’s see a fun idea.
2. Give a unique caricature drawing
Caricatures are funny, last forever and people love to be occasionally reminded of that other, “imperfect side” of theirs. The good news is that caricatures can be just as easily created by digital artists, as they are done by street artists who assemble crowds with their skills at major tourist destinations.
The internet is full of freelance platforms with easy and cost-effective access to creative professionals. You don’t need to bustle out your creativity, because you can simply send a picture of your friend to the contractor you select and sit tight for the result.
Here are some platforms, where you can find caricaturists:
Fiverr.com started out as quick online tasks for $5 (fiver) and nowadays is a well-respected freelancer platform.
Freelancer.com is one of the largest websites that connect businesses to professionals remotely. You can find hundreds of graphics professionals and the search features allow you to nail down people who specialize in caricatures.
AirTasker.com is another top freelancer platform that you can give a try.
Getting a good Christmas deal is possible because the price for the caricature depends solely on your negotiation skills.
In a similar fashion, you could opt for a …
3. Custom video with the most memorable and enjoyable moments together
Video-making had become as easy as 1, 2, 3, with modern phones capable of shooting even 4K. Making a video out of pictures is also very easy, so long you have the patience to learn new tools and the time to do it.
In case you like the idea and prefer the easy route, you could opt for some web, desktop or mobile apps that do a great job. Some of them are free, others are premium. One thing is certain, a video of the moments together is unique, will be remembered and is perfect for anyone.
Vidday.com lets you make the perfect video gift to celebrate any special occasion. You can make a video montage for your friends telling them why they’re amazing.
Animoto.com can turn your photos and short clips into video slideshows, quickly and easily.
Once, you get the video done, simply upload it to YouTube or another video platform and send the link as a gift.
You can discover similar tools in Google Play and App Store.
And of course, you can always go for the freelancer platforms mentioned above, if you want to gift a fancier video.
If that feels like too much hustle, you can always …
4. Let them stress-less with a Meditation app subscription
This could turn out to be one of the more expensive options, but if you really care for the person who stresses out of the ordinary, then this gift could be really valuable. With tons of positive feedback, these apps can live up to anyone’s expectations. They deliver improved mindfulness and offer support during the tiny steps towards quality meditation.
Check below some of the best options out there.
Calm.com helps people find their calm, sleep more, stress less and live better.
Aurahealth.io is there for you when you need to take a moment for yourself and feel better every day.
Headspace.com is the first step on your journey towards a healthier, happier life. It even gives you the option to send a gift, just click the link to be taken to that page precisely and watch out for holiday deals.
All these apps offer stuff like guided meditation, sleep stories, calming music, calendars and tools to track progress. Let’s see you contributing to a more peaceful world, or just towards your friend’s emotional upgrade.
5. Gift easy-to-read E-books or Audiobooks
E-books
E-readers are already super popular. If you know a friend or family member who owns one (or is about to get one), send that person the gift of reading. Buy Kindle books by clicking the “Give as Gift” widget on each Kindle Store book page. The same goes for the NOOK Book store. Both services send ebooks by email. Simple as that!
Here you go, the links to the top E-book providers, for your convenience:
Audiobooks
Send audiobooks for grandma’s long car rides or for your friend’s international flights. Discover Audible, which lets you give the gift of monthly subscriptions or select individual books, both sent by email.
6. Send a Virtual GiftCard to stay on the safe side
Many retailers offer prepaid gift cards for spending the money just at the same particular brands. Most of these gift cards are physical, so they don’t fit the concept of digital gifts.
For this reason, you have iCard! You can use your digital wallet to easily send a custom-designed virtual gift card and load it up with any amount you wish to gift. The recipient will get it in their iCard (if they have an account), right after you tap on SEND. If they don’t have iCard yet, they need to download it and use it to activate and use the gift card and the money in it.
The best thing about iCard’s eGiftCards is that the money can be spent anywhere – at any online merchant or subscription service. In addition, the money in our virtual cards can be spent at millions of locations around the world. You can use mobile payments via an NFC-enabled phone to purchase anything at retailers who accept Mastercard.
This gift is awesome for many reasons:
- No plastic is used to produce the eGiftCard
- It has a custom design
- It gives freedom of choice
- AND if your friend is new to iCard, they get a bonus gift – a free digital wallet that is secure, top-rated and can save them money.
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Christmas is just another occasion to take our wallets out and buy gifts as an attempt to make people around us happy. However, when gifting, it’s important that your surprize will be remembered, will last long or will make the person feel good. And of course, you could always take advantage of the holidays and unleash the shopper within you. Finding a deal now can be the perfect occasion to stock up gifts in advance for any future occasion.
Don’t forget about iCard’s virtual cards. They were designed for secure online shopping and would work for any of the above-mentioned ideas. To stay 100% protected, just remember to freeze your card after each purchase.
Is anything missing in our list of digital purchases? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
Trust virtual cards for your online shopping!
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